Incubator aids city's rebirth

NYBizLab getting set to house several startup companies

Published 7:53 pm, Monday, November 10, 2014

Workers from the American Glass and Metal Company work on the facade replacing glass panels Monday morning Nov. 10, 2014 at 251 State Street in Schenectady, N.Y. as the building is being renovated to house a business incubator. (Skip Dickstein/Times Union) less

Workers from the American Glass and Metal Company work on the facade replacing glass panels Monday morning Nov. 10, 2014 at 251 State Street in Schenectady, N.Y. as the building is being renovated to house a ... more

Workers from the American Glass and Metal Company work on the facade replacing glass panels Monday morning Nov. 10, 2014 at 251 State Street in Schenectady, N.Y. as the building is being renovated to house a business incubator. (Skip Dickstein/Times Union) less

Workers from the American Glass and Metal Company work on the facade replacing glass panels Monday morning Nov. 10, 2014 at 251 State Street in Schenectady, N.Y. as the building is being renovated to house a ... more

Downtown Schenectady's resurgence includes the Capital Region's newest business incubator, known as NYBizLab.

The 26,000-square-foot facility — located on the upper floors of the former Schenectady Federal Savings and Loan building on State Street — is undergoing renovations now for an expected opening in early 2015.

While most local business incubators are affiliated with local universities, NYBizLab is a bit different. It is the brainchild of Antonio Civitella, CEO of Transfinder, the Schenectady transportation software company. The facility has been designed from the ground up with handpicked startup companies and possibly a large anchor tenant, Docstar, the local document management software company.

Docstar has not officially signed a lease for NYBizLab, but Rick D'Errico, managing director of the incubator, says that at least six other potential tenants are also interested in the facility, which will include conference rooms, meeting space and a lot of entrepreneurial energy.

"They'll be rubbing shoulders in the hallways and the common areas," D'Errico said Monday as he showed off the progress at the building, which houses a First Niagara branch on the first floor. "That's really the idea."

Civitella purchased the building, which is down the street from the new headquarters of Transfinder, which itself has become one of the centerpieces of the revitalization of downtown Schenectady.

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Although NYBizLab has been keeping a relatively low profile, D'Errico and Civitella have been busy behind the scenes putting together a roster of "mentors" for companies that join NYBizLab, including local startup and investment experts Bela Musits, dean of the School of Management at Union Graduate College, and Richard Honen of Phillips Lytle.

D'Errico said that the companies that are lined up to become tenants, including an e-commerce company and an app developer among other types of startups, will also work directly with the community college on training and curriculum.